Combined button arranger and safety guard for wringers



June 9, 1925. 1,541,177

0. M. OTTE COMBINED BUTTON ARRANGER AND SAFETY GUARD FOR WRINGERS FiledOct. 13, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented June 9, 1925.

UNITED STATES {PATENT OFF 1541,17? ICE.

OTI-IO M. OTTE, 0F TARENTUM, PENNSYLVANIA.

COMBINED BUTTON ARRANGER AND SAFETY GUARP FOR WRINGERS.

Application filed October 13, 1921. Serial No. 507,559.

wringers as ordinarily operated are liable to be either torn from theclothes or broken by the pressure rolls of the wringer because of thefact that a large proportion of them are forced to enter the pressurerolls at an improper angle with relation to the line of travel of theclothes through the rolls. I have found that if the buttons on clothesare laid fiat before entering the rolls, the tendency to tear them fromthe clothes or to break them is reduced to a minimum, and an object ofthis invention is to provide means for automatically adjust ng orarranging the buttons on clothes prior to their entrance between thewringer rolls.

A further object is to provide a combined button adjuster and safetyguard for clothes wringers.

These, as wellas other ob ects which will readily appear to thoseskilled in this particular art, I attain by means of the devicedescribed in the specification and illustrated in the drawingsaccompanying and forming part of this application. f

In the drawings, Figure 1 1s a side view in elevation of a wringer ofordinary construction with a device embodying this invention appliedthereto. Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1, lookingin the direction of the arrows. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic verticalsectional view of the attachment. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view insection of a modified form of the attachment and Fig. 5 is a fragmentaryView partially in plan and partially in section of the modification.

In the simple form of device shown in Fig. 1 two supporting brackets7-7, preferably stamped from sheet metal, are mounted so as to slide onsupport pins 8-8 having wood screw ends 9 screwed into the end posts 10of a clothes wringer.

. The wringer may be of any ordinary construction, either hand or poweroperated, and ordinarily will consist of the end posts,

slotted to receive bearing blocks 11 within which the'compression rolls12 and '13 arejournaled. These wringers are preferably provided withcompression springs 14, a follower 15 and a compression screw 16.

Each of the brackets 7 ashas been said,

is preferably stamped from sheet metal and each is provided with a guidebracket 17 riveted to the body portion of the bracket and with an .endflange 18. The guide bracket and end flange are pierced to re;

ceive pin 8 and with said" pin provide a slidable mounting betweenflange l8 and a washer 19 which lies against end post 10 of the wringer.A coil spring 20 surrounds support pin 8. These springs, therepreferably being four in number, for each device, tend to yieldinglyhold the brackets 1 toward the limit of outward movement or away fromthe wringer and in contact with stops 21 carried'by support pins 8. Eachof the brackets 7 is provided with upper and lower elongated guide slotsnumbered 22 and 23 respectively and the trunnions 24 of upper and loweridler rollers 25 and 26 respectively are mounted therein. Tensionsprings 27, one for each bracket, have their ends looped over thetrunnions as shown in Fig. l and yieldingly hold the rollers 25 and 26toward the lower and upper limits respectively of their travel'in-theelongated slots 22 and 23.

An endless or tubular conveyor 28 formed of any suitable textilematerial passes around compression roll 13 and roller 26 and a similarconveyor 29 passes around upper compression roll 12 and idler roller 25.Springs 20 tend to keep the endless conveyors taut.

As the'wringer is operated andthe compression rolls revolved, theadjacent runs of the conveyor will move in the direction of arrow X,Figures 1 and 8, and carry any clothes or other material toward andthrough the compression rolls of the wringer. Springs 27 for yieldinglyholding the idler rollers for the conveyors in normal position allow theentrance opening between-the outer ends of the conveyors to accommodatevarying quantities or amounts of material. o

The superposed conveyors are so arranged that their adjacent runs whichpass through the rolls converge from the variable opening between idlerrollers 25 and 26 to the roll contact line where they are -to which theyare attached and thereby reducing to a minimum the breakage of buttonsoccasioned by improper entrance between the rolls.

It is now customary. in using power wringers to operatethe same ineither direction and in Figs. 4 and 5, I have illustrated' amodification of this invention as applied to a wringer such as a powerwringer, where it is desired to operate the same in both directions. Inthis form of devic'e, s'upport plates 40, one for each side of each endpost 41 of the wringer is provided, and each of these plates ispreferably provided with an upper support pin 42 and a lower supportpin43.

Two independently slidable, bearing brackets are provided for eachsupport late. Bracket 44 preferably stamped rom sheet metal, so as tohave a top flange 45 and an end flange 46 has two ears- 47 struck upfrom the body of the bracket and these are pierced with aligned holes toreceive support pin 43. Upper bracket 48 is provided with a bottomflange 49 having elongated slots 50 through which rivets carried by thetop plate of bracket 44 extend. Bracket 48 is also provided with an endplate 51 pierced to receive support pin 42.

Coiled springs 52 and 53 surround support pins 43 and 42 respectivelyand yieldingly force brackets 48 and 44 toward the limit of theiroutward movement.

Springs 52 for the lower conveyor are preferably stiffer thanthose forthe upper conveyor so as to compensate for the weight of the wetclothes. I

Similar brackets are carried on opposite sides of each wringer end postas before said and both upper brackets 48 are provided with a bearingslot 54 adapted to receive a trunnion 55 of idler roller 56.

The bracket above slot 54 has a groove 57 pressed therein as shown. inFig. 5, so as to serve as a guide for guiding trunnion 55 to its slot54. Idler rollers56 are yieldingly held toward the bottom .of bearingslot 54 by means of a C spring 58, at one end secured to the bracket andat the other hooked over trunnion 55.

Each bracket 44 is provided with a bear ing slot 59 which stands at anangle to the vertical, and bracket member 44 has a groove 60 pressedtherein for the reception of trunnion 61 of idler roller 62.

An endless conveyor 63 formed of suit able tubular textile materialpasses around idler rollers 62 and lower compression roll 64 of thewringer while a similar endless conveyor 65 passes around idler rollers56 and upper compression roll 66 of the wringer. The upper endlessconveyor 65 is materially shorter than the lower endless conveyor asshown in Figs. 4 and 5. For this reason, those portions of the lowerconveyor which project beyond the ends of the upper conveyor form movingtables or shelves upon which the clothes may be placed for entrance intothe device.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is p 1. The combinationwith the compression rolls of a wringer, of a pair of endless belts forconveying material to said compression rolls and means for yieldingl-ysupporting the outer reaches of each of said belts.

2. The combination with the compression rolls of a wringer, of a pair ofendless belts adapted to convey material to said rolls, a roller adaptedto sup ort the outer reach of each belt, means or yieldingly supportingsaid rollers so as to permit vertical movement thereof and means forpressing said rollers outwardly to tension said belts.

3. The combination with the compression rolls of a wringer, of a pair ofendless belts adapted to convey material to said rolls and tosimultaneously yieldingly arrange and rogressively compact the material,a roller or supporting the outer reach of each of said belts, bracketsadapted to support said rollers so as to permit vertical movementthereof and means for pressing said brackets'outwardly so as to-tensionsaid belts;

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 8th day ofOctobeg-1921.

w oTrto M. o'r'rn

